Tikhonravov is a large, eroded
crater
A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...
in the
Arabia quadrangle
The Arabia quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Arabia quadrangle (geography), quadrangle is also referred ...
of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. It is in diameter and was named after
Mikhail Tikhonravov, a Russian rocket scientist. Tikhonravov is believed to have once held a giant lake that drained into the
Naktong-
Scamander-
Mamers
Mamers () is a Communes of France, commune in the Sarthe Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. The neighboring communes are: Commerveil, Saint-Longis, Saint-Rémy-des-Mont ...
lake-chain system. An inflow and outflow channel has been identified. Many craters once contained lakes.
Pedestal craters
Some craters in Tikhonravov are classified as
pedestal craters. A pedestal crater is a crater with its ejecta sitting above the surrounding terrain. They form when an impact crater ejects material which forms an erosion resistant layer, thus causing the immediate area to erode more slowly than the rest of the region. The result is that both the crater and its ejecta blanket stand above the surroundings.
Gallery
File:Tikhonravov crater 692A10.jpg, Oblique Viking Orbiter 1 view of Tikhonravov
Image:Arabia map.JPG, Map of Arabia quadrangle
The Arabia quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Arabia quadrangle (geography), quadrangle is also referred ...
with major craters.
Image:Tikonravev Crater Floor.JPG, Tikhonravov crater floor, as seen by Mars Global Surveyor
''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It launched November 1996 and collected data from 1997 to 2006. MGS was a global mapping mission that examined ...
. Click on image to see dark slope streaks and layers.
Image:Tikhonravov Basin Streaks.JPG, Streaks on side of pedestal crater in Tikhonravov, as seen by HiRISE
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...
. Scale bar is 500 meters long. Click on image to see close-up of the crater edge.
Image:Layers in a crater in Arabia.JPG, Close-up of layers in Tikhonravov in Arabia, as seen by Mars Global Surveyor, under the MOC Public Targeting Program. Layers may form from volcanoes
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
, the wind, or by deposition under water. The craters on the left are pedestal craters.
ESP 045455 1930layers.jpg, Layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Pedestal crater is within the much larger Tikhonravov Crater.
Image:ESP 025609layers.jpg, Layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program
HiWish is a program created by NASA so that anyone can suggest a place for the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to photograph. It was started in January 2010. In the first few months of the program 3000 people signed up to use HiR ...
. Pedestal crater is within the much larger Tikhonravov.
Image:25609layersclose.jpg, Close-up of some layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program.
Image:25609layersstreak.jpg, Close-up of some layers under cap rock of a pedestal crater and a dark slope streak, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program.
See also
*
List of craters on Mars
__NOTOC__
This is a list of craters on Mars. Impact craters on Mars larger than exist by the hundreds of thousands, but only about one thousand of them have names. Names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union after petitioning ...
References
Arabia quadrangle
Impact craters on Mars
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